The Burbrick Infatuation
by A-Little-Bit-Of-Awesomeness
Summary: 'No matter how long someone special has been out of your life, if they meant something to you once they always will.' Leonard is reminded of someone special, hurling him back into a period of his life that he would rather forget. Leonard x OC, mostly romance/hurt/comfort, but there is humour and friendship involved too.
1. Prologue

_After their dinner date, Leonard and Penny were climbing the stairs up to their apartments._

"_I just think if we're going to try dating again we should take things slow," Penny explained, swinging her black leather bag as she walked._

"_Oh, I can take it slow. Did I ever tell about my first girlfriend in high school, Karen Burbrick? To this day she doesn't know we were going out." He paused for a moment." 'Made it easier on her when I broke things off!"_

"_Okay, well, maybe not that slow," Penny replied, smiling softly._

* * *

A gentle breeze blew in through the slightly open window, wafting the curtains back and forth. Leonard watched absent-mindedly, his room out of focus without his glasses. Earlier that night, he had told Penny about Karen and it had been so… easy. Although now, instead of sleeping soundly, he lay awake, his mind filled with memories of high school, with Karen and his past unrelenting crush on her. 'Unrelenting'; however now all that remained was a very vague soft spot. Talking to Penny about her, no matter how ambiguously, had refreshed his memory and opened an old wound that had never quite healed.

Fumbling for his glasses, Leonard sat up slowly. _This is ridiculous; I love Penny more than anything _he thought as he pushed them up the bridge of his nose. It dawned on him that no matter how long someone special has been out of your life, if they meant something to you once they always will. The physicist switched on his bedside light with a loud click and cringed slightly; any little sound could wake his roommate, who had almost Vulcan hearing. Leonard crept, on tip-toes to his wardrobe and reached up to the top shelf. Due to his height, he couldn't quite see to the back of that shelf, so he fiddled around as quietly as he could for nearly two minutes until he found it: his yearbook from high school. Illuminated only by his dim bedside light, he sat cross-legged on his bed and flicked swiftly through the pages until he saw her face.


	2. Locker 43

Footsteps and laughter echoed down the corridor, becoming fainter and fainter as they sprinted away. The empty corridor descended into silence. Well, almost empty. A bespectacled teenager with dark, curly hair and expressive brown eyes was, literally, _squashed _into an unused locker. Panting slightly, he gripped the door with his free hand, (the left jammed into the corner), in a vain attempt to lever himself out. His head was at the back, forced down by the roof. Although he was short and very slim, he was fifteen years old; the locker was not exactly a comfortable fit. Unfortunately, Jimmy Speckerman and his friends did not seem to know this. Or if they did, they didn't care. The teenager decided on the latter.

"… and then, he didn't even call me this morning. I mean, what kind of game is that? Jake and I are so not getting together again!"

Startled by the voice, the boy cringed. _Ashley Carter, the cheerleader whose appetite for gossip never ceases: by the time the bell goes for first period, the entire school will know about this. I'll be a laughing stock, _he thought miserably. _Wait, I already am. _Luckily, her voice was coming from around the corner, not in the same area.

"Good call, Jake sounds like such a jerk!"

The female voice was unrecognisable to him, though that was not unusual due to the size of the school. The teenager heard the distinct English accent, although he could not identify the exact accent. _That's not Received Pronunciation or Cockney_, he decided inaudibly_._

"Hey, I've got to go and meet Brett now 'cause I said I'd meet him before school starts, but d'you want me to show you where your locker is first?" Ashley asked casually.

"Oh yes please, its number 43."

The teenager froze. _Of all the lockers in this school, the one I'm stuck in just happens to be hers._ He knew there was no chance of him escaping before the girls saw him. Chewing his lip, he waited helplessly for the moment they continued walking and turned the corner.

"43… that's just 'round the corner, on the bottom row," the cheerleader explained.

"Thanks Ash, see you later!"

"Good luck, bye!" Ashley called, her heels clicking as she tottered away into the distance.

Biting down further on his lower lip, the boy listened to the girl walk towards him. _Any minute now she'll see me, _he thought apprehensively. The soft footsteps stopped suddenly. _Oh great,_ _she's seen my bag_. His black shoulder bag with the star trek logo on the front was upturned with his books and homework sheets strewn across the floor. Each seemingly endless second that crept by built the tension until, after ten seconds, she spoke.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

The footsteps started again, but slower, more cautiously this time.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" Her voice was teeming with anxiety.

"Uh, no, not really… I just can't get out of here," he explained, his face scarlet with humiliation as a pair of purple Converse came into view. He watched her kneel down about a metre in front of the locker, showing dark blue jeans. Dragging his head out of the corner, he tried to see her face, but it was no use; the locker was just too low. Instead, he let his head lean on the back wall of the slate grey locker.

"My god… what happened to you?" She asked concernedly.

"I got s-stuck inside this locker," the teenager answered shyly.

"Oh really? I would never have guessed," the girl responded sarcastically. She laughed in such a warm, bubbly way that he blushed even more.

"So, can I help you out?"

"No thanks, I can do it myself."

"Are you sure? No offence, but you seem pretty crammed in there and we don't have that long before everyone else will start coming in," she reiterated.

"Okay, thank you. Um, could you just pull my right foot out from under my left leg?" He asked, reluctant to accept her help. He had to admit that in this strange situation every one of his options would result in further awkwardness. Begrudgingly, he admitted to himself that her logic could not be faulted.

In the next four minutes, the pair managed to pull both of his legs fully out and free his left hand from behind his back. They hurried on, intent on releasing him before school began.

"Right, I think I can push myself out now," he informed the girl, taking deep breaths as a result of his nerves.

"Awesome, shall I help pull you out?" She offered.

"Yeah, please."

"Okay then. On the count of three: one… two… three!"

The boy surged forward, knocking over the other adolescent and collapsing on top of her. They rolled backwards, creating a muddled pile of teenagers. Rapidly, they untangled themselves and scrambled to their feet.

"I, um, I'm so, so sorry I honestly didn't mean to, um…"

"Hey, it's fine. I know it was an accident," she assured him, straightening her clothes and sorting her hair out.

For the first time, the boy saw the girl. She was just over five foot tall, a little shorter than he. Her straight hair was dark brown and she had deep blue eyes. Leonard wasn't the type that usually noticed make-up, but he decided that she was wearing far too much of it.

_I seriously need to stop staring at her, she probably already thinks I'm a total freak, I don't want her thinking I'm a creep as well. _He dragged his eyes off her and picked up his bag, starting to pack it. She held his scientific calculator out for him as a group of freshman boys and two senior girls entered the corridor.

"Leonard- what an awesome name," she grinned, reading the front of his maths exercise book.

"Thanks… but I hate it. It sounds like it has 'nerd' in it," Leonard sighed, amazed at how she had complemented his name without a hint of sarcasm. She laughed and he smiled at her.

"Wait… are you any relation to Robert Hofstadter, the joint winner of the 1961 Nobel prize in physics?"

"No, but that I wish I … I mean who's that? I- I don't even like science, I'm into stuff like football and, um, other sports," he lied, hoping to impress her as much as her physics knowledge had impressed him. He zipped up his bag in what he hoped to be a nonchalant way.

"You know, I'd never have guessed that from your red 'May the F=ma be with you' T-shirt," she giggled, turning his face turned the colour of his shirt. She removed a clear plastic lunchbox from her bag and put it into her new locker along with her calculator and a pale blue notebook with purple butterflies on it.

"So, is it your first day here?"

"Yeah, I only moved over here last week. I'd never even been on holiday to the US before, so I was pretty nervous. Well, I say '_was'_ I mean, I still am but I feel a better now…" she explained, brushing her fringe out of her eyes.

"Now… what?"

The bell rung brashly, catching them by surprise even though they knew it's ringing was eminent.

"Do you know where you have to go first?" Leonard asked considerately, forgetting for a moment about his previous question.

"Yeah, Ashley explained what to do," she responded, securing her locker.

"That's okay then. Thank you so much for helping me earlier, I think I would still be…" he glanced around at the other students bustling past, "… _you know… _if it wasn't for you."

"Oh, it was nothing. Well, I've got to go now; I'll see you 'round!" She called to him, beginning to slowly walk away.

"Bye! Good luck today!"

The girl grinned at him, before walking around the corner. In an unfamiliar daze, Leonard started walking. After being rammed into a claustrophobically small space, the freedom of movement seemed incredible although he continued aching all over his body. However, his mind was not on his pain.

Who was the girl? What was her name? How could he see her again? All Leonard knew about her was that she was English, she was very kind, what she looked like and that she was new to both America and the school. Unfortunately, he didn't know her name. He estimated that she was a similar age to him, but he wasn't sure; she could easily be in the grade above him. What was she going to say after said 'I feel a bit better now…'? Now she's arrived at school? Now she's been in the US a week? Now she's chatted to Ashley? He was the sort of person that needed closure, causing his mind to spin with all the unanswered questions.

Above all, Leonard was stunned that the teenage girl had been so benevolent to him. All his life, he was used to in other people's shadows, at home as well as at school. Even at his cello lessons he was constantly overlooked by the others cellists. Instead of ignoring him, she had helped him, despite having never met him before. _Though I guess it would be kind of impossible to ignore someone trapped in a locker, _he decided_._ Most people, including the people he knew, would have mocked him for at least ten minutes before considering helping him out.

_Why would someone like her even talk to someone like me?_ Leonard wondered as he entered the classroom. Looking at the other students in the room, he admitted that the majority of them ignored him or even bullied him. In fact, the only reasons that many of the teenage girls at his school acknowledged his existence were to convince him to do their homework for them or because one of their teachers instructed them to work together.

During his third lesson of the day, Leonard was still deep in thought about the events of the morning. His mother's emotionless, realistic approach to every detail in life had hardened his view on the world slightly, making him believe the girl would never go out with him. Despite her talking to him more in ten minutes than most girls did in a year, he concluded that she was far out of his league. _I don't know her name or what grade she's in; I have no idea when I'll see her again. If I never meet her for a second time or see her every day, there's no chance we'll get together because she is still way too good for me. In my mind, we'll be together. The most our relationship will be is my daydream._


	3. Pale Blue Notepaper

Later that day, love-struck Leonard and his friend, Ross were having lunch together in the school cafeteria. His plan to keep the girl only in his mind had unravelled as soon as they had seen each other at morning break, a few hours ago. Now, it was lunchtime and he was still talking about her, although he insisted he was not romantically attached to her.

"For someone who says he's not interested in her, you sure talk about her a lot," Ross observed, grinning as he took a sip from his can of Pepsi.

"Well…yeah. On the other hand you talk about Spock all the time, but you're not crushing on him."

"Okay, point taken. I still think you should try and find her or something; she could be your first girlfriend!"

The pair sighed in unison as they had a moment of dreaming about the distant idea of their first girlfriends. Neither of them had ever come close to being in a relationship. In fact, the closest times Leonard had had with girls was that morning when the new girl helped pull him out of the locker and in fifth grade when Nicole Bradfield had 'helped' Douglas Taylor beat him up.

"Even if there was a vague possibility of dating her (which there isn't), how would I find her to ask her out? I don't even know her name," Leonard wondered whilst twirling spaghetti with his fork.

"Hang on, you said Ashley was with her, right?"

"Yeah, she showed her where her new locker was. Why do you ask?"

"Well if they were chatting, then Ashley will know who she is! She'll know her name too," exclaimed Ross. His blue-grey eyes were bright with excitement.

"But the girl and I talked too, but that doesn't mean I know her name," Leonard reasoned, tilting his head a little.

"Think about it. Ashley Carter loves to gossip and she has to know everything that's going on. If a new student starts, she'll want to be the first to know all about them! Then, she can be the one to introduce the new student…"

"….And share the limelight that the new student gets! Of course, I should've known," he smiled as another fifteen-year old with light brown hair and similarly coloured eyes at down next to him carrying his lunch-tray.

"Hi Malcolm, where've you been?" Ross asked cheerfully.

"Hey guys! My Orchestra group finished on time, but with the music exams next week we all decided to practice our main assessment pieces together. Anyway, you two looked pretty excited from back there, have you talked to this mystery maiden yet?"

"Not yet, but we have just decided to ask Ashley about her, she'll know her name and everything," answered Ross.

"No, we're not. A- There is no way Ashley will talk to us, just been seen with me will lower her social status and B- I'm not going to ask the girl out…" _… just to be turned down_ Leonard added silently.

"Oh come on Leonard, live a little. Ashley will already be at cheerleading practice by now, so maybe you should wait until after school before asking her. Look, we'll even come with you if you want, won't we, Ross?"

"Sure! Ashley knows me quite well; back when I was a freshman I did most of her homework for her. Not that we chatted much; usually she just left the assignment sheets and stuff in my locker," Ross sighed.

"Did she ever give you anything in return?" Leonard asked, glad that the subject had been changed.

"No, she cornered me in the science corridor and asked me to write this essay for her. She gave me this long complicated story about how she was too busy and something about her break-up with Mike or Miles and I couldn't say no. She said it would just be that one essay, but quickly 2 sides of A4 turned into pretty much every assignment she was given," explained Malcolm.

"Don't try and change the subject, Leonard, we're still going to find this girl. What if we tell…"

"You guys never listen! We're not going to ask Ashley or find this girl or anything; we're just going to forget this ever happened, okay? And even if I wanted to, this is between me and her. I bet I could throw a rock in this room and come up with three better friends," Leonard snapped. He took his lunch tray and left the table, ignoring their apologies.

Deep down, Leonard knew that his friends were not trying to upset him, but it was such a sensitive subject. The more his friends entertained the possibility of being with the girl, the stronger his glimmer of hope grew. _It's just false hope,_ the teenager told himself. Glancing back at Ross and Malcolm, the last of his frustration melted away. He decided to go back and make up with them.

* * *

At the beginning of his history lesson, Leonard unpacked his bag and thought about the day's events. The three of them spent the rest of their lunch hour together, back to normal. The only exception was that Ross and Malcolm both had the sense not to bring up the object of Leonard's affections again.

Without warning, he realised something; his history exercise book was missing. Worriedly, the teenager scrabbled around in his bag; he could imagine his stringent history teacher's reaction if he explained that he had lost his book. Mr Pullman was so authoritarian that he would bring it up at his parent's evening. Leonard could only imagine his mother's response if she heard about this. Being in a family where academia is held high above everything else meant that even the tiniest error at school would not be forgotten.

"Hofstadter, can you come to the front please?" Mr Pullman commanded, opening one of his desk drawers.

Cheeks burning, he made his way to the front while avoiding eye contact with his classmates.

"This morning at recess, I had a visitor (new girl it seems) who gave me this to pass on to you. Lucky for you she came earlier, otherwise you would have been ill-equipped for the lesson and I'm sure you are aware that would have been unacceptable. I'll let you off the hook this time," the teacher informed him. He thrust his exercise book out to him.

"Thank you," Leonard responded, before carrying it back to his desk. Mr Pullman began to introduce the lesson in his overly- officious way whilst clutching a large wad of marked papers, not that the class was listening.

As the teenager opened his book, a small piece of paper fluttered out. It was pale blue and lined, with little lavender butterflies in the corner. Under close inspection, the edges were slightly ripped as if the paper had been torn out of a larger page. He turned it over and saw the neat writing that read:

_**Now I met you! **_

A wide smile crept into the corners of Leonard's mouth. Malcolm peered over his shoulder at the note.

"You haven't given up on her, have you?"

The goofy grin Leonard gave him said it all.


	4. Romeo, Romeo

A formidable wind scattered richly-coloured leaves across the pavement. Leonard crunched through a pile of them as he made his way to the bus stop. Since the note yesterday, his mixed feelings had switched around; instead of being mostly cynical with a hint of hope, he was optimistic for the most part. Still, a nag of doubt tore slowly away at him, sneaking around at the back of his mind.

But now was not the time to fret. Today, much to the delight of Ross and Malcolm, Leonard had planned to approach Ashley at recess and find out about the 'mystery maiden' as Malcolm had called her. He missed her already, even though he had only met her once less than twenty four hours ago. Those sparkling blue eyes, that glossy brunette hair…

Out of the corner of Leonard's eye, he noticed a glimpse of mustard yellow. He did a double take. The school bus! He had been so distracted that he had missed it completely! The New Jerseyan began to sprint frantically after it.

"Stop, wait! Come back!"

The cello case bounced on Leonard's back as he scampered along. His shoelaces came undone, causing him to stumble a little. Sweat started to pour down his forehead and stick his curly hair down onto it. Fortunately, the bus slowed down and came to a halt outside one of the houses.

In his rush, Leonard failed to recall his untied shoelaces and ran even quicker. He trod firmly on one of them and tumbled forward, collapsing into a mountain of leaves on the verge beside the bus. The students' laughter filled the autumnal air as they stood up to have a closer look at the huge pile of leaves with the tip of a cello case and two denim-clad shins protruding from it.

Scrambling, Leonard attempted to lift himself gingerly out. His heavy bags weighed him down, pushing him back into the vast heap. Although the footsteps were very muffled, he could hear somebody approaching him. _Finally, a bit of help, _he thought with an inaudible sigh of relief.

"What the 'ell d'you think you're doing? I've just spent the last 'our and a half clearing the paths on this neighbour'ood and what thanks do I get? Some kid thinking it's funny to ruin all my 'ard work. Youths these days," the middle-aged man barked furiously. Shocked by the resentment in his voice, he pulled himself up even harder.

"I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to, um, sorry…" Leonard mumbled incoherently, struggling to his feet. He dashed onto the school bus without looking back at the man who was standing defiantly beside the remains of his leafy mound, clutching a large rake in his left hand.

"Thanks for waiting," the teenager muttered to the bearded bus driver who was tapping the steering wheel with his impatient fingers. Humiliated, he sat down on the right of the bus, around the middle, and tried to ignore the mockery that surrounded him. The high-school students' voices filled the air with laughter, not the enjoyable, pleasant kind, but the harsh, cruel sort that made Leonard want to crawl back into bed and pull his Batman sheets over his head. Instead, he leant his head against the window and pictured the girl. If he closed his eyes tight enough, he could almost feel her sitting beside him. Almost feel her arms around him and hear her comforting him in her soft English accent. The sound of the other students began to wash over him...

A while later, the school bus parked conveniently at the front of the school. Jolted back to reality, Leonard picked up his cello case and waited for the others to leave first. Finally, he climbed off and started to walk through the school. He spotted a group of cheerleaders in his year standing outside the bike sheds, Ashley Carter and some of the leaf incident witnesses among them.

_This is it, this is my chance. If I don't find out about the girl now, the moment will be gone and it will be too late, _Leonard thought daringly. He took a deep breath and began to walk towards them. Becky was showing Nadia how to apply eyeliner in a straight line, her jewellery clinking together as she tilted her arm. Trish and Stacy were giggling secretively and Ellen was deep in conversation with both Ashley and Opal. Their skirts were so short that Leonard was sure they must classify as large belts and their heels so high that they were at a serious risk of spraining their ankles. Suddenly, Leonard's valiant attitude fizzled away. Maybe he would find another way of learning about her.

* * *

"Does that mean you're definitely not going to approach Ashley?"

During the very same day, Leonard and Malcolm were working together in their English lesson.

"No, I don't think I can. But I'm still going to do something, I just don't know what yet," Leonard replied, turning the page of the textbook they were sharing. He examined a large picture of an artist's impression of Shakespeare's Juliet, who was in the arms of Romeo. They were staring blissfully into each other's adoring eyes and were surrounded by roses. He sighed deeply. Malcolm gave him a pitying look.

"You've really fallen for her, haven't you?"

Leonard simply nodded. Although it was fairly obvious that he had feelings for the girl, admitting it was much more difficult than they had expected. Suddenly, the bell for the start of their lunch break rung.

"As I suspected, Romeo. Come on then, we'll have to bring out the big guns," Malcolm smiled, closing his book and shutting his stationary tin with an audible _click_.

"What exactly are you proposing?"

"Meet me outside Quick Chek at 10pm tonight and you'll find out," he responded, his light brown eyes glinting secretively.

* * *

The night air was cool and tranquil. Leonard checked his watch for the fifth time, _10:02pm, _in the pool of light from the streetlamp he stood under. The first 'c' in the Quick Chek sign flickered relentlessly. A woman who looked around twenty five years old came out the shop, pushing a pram with a dozing baby. An empty crisp packet was blown onto the verge by a passing Honda. He checked his watch again. _10:07pm._

Finally, Ross and Malcolm tiptoed up to him. They were dressed mostly in dark clothes, which appeared unusual to Leonard. In fact, as they became illuminated by the street lamp, the teenager could see that his friends were wearing black from head to foot. Ross muttered a greeting out of the corner of his mouth and stared at everything except Leonard, as though he couldn't see him.

"Um, what the hell are you guys doing?"

"I was trying to be subtle, unlike _some_ people… Mal."

"Well, basically we need to make sure we're not noticed tonight, but Ross decided to take it a bit too far," Malcolm whispered. They both looked at Ross's thick balaclava.

"Okay, fine, it's coming off," Ross sighed, removing his disguise.

"Hang on- what exactly are we doing that we need to sneak around like this?" Worriedly, Leonard stared at his two friends. So far, this seemed remarkably out of character for them.

"You'll see, Romeo. Let's go," Malcolm answered. They crossed the street together and began to walk along the pavement.

"Mal, I'm not sure this is such a good idea. It's a little risky, don't you think?" Ross questioned hesitantly.

"I know what you mean, but it's a sure-fire way of finding out the girl's name and details. I think it'll all be fine, Ross."

"You think so? It had better be, it wasn't exactly easy meeting you here after my 8pm curfew," Leonard informed them. They turned the corner onto another wide street.

"8pm? Are you serious?" Ross echoed incredulously.

"Uh-huh, my mother did this study when she was in her twenties about how an overtly stringent bedtime schedule can increase academic success in adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17. She still thinks that way now, so if my curfew was any later it would mess everything up. I guess the study's logic is solid, but an 8pm curfew for a fifteen year old is ridiculous by any means."

"So how did you perform the great escape? It can't exactly have been easy, knowing your mother. No offence," Malcolm questioned, running his fingers through his light brown hair.

"None taken. Actually, she's visiting my sister Charlotte in Princeton for a few days, she left this morning. Apart from her, Michael was asleep and my father was in his study writing a paper on his sex life from an anthropological perspective. To be honest, Mal, I don't think they'll even notice I'm gone anyway," explained Leonard.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Romeo," Ross reassured him.

"Are you guys going to keep calling me that? It's such a generic literature reference that it borders on being a societal clique..."

"... and you say you don't fit into your family! But yeah, we're going to call you that forever!"

"Definitely. Hey Romeo, we're just about here!"

Ross pointed at a large property at the end of the street. Malcolm and he continued to walk towards it, leaving our male protagonist behind him staring in shock.


	5. Mission Accomplished

**Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! I really appreciate it! :)**

"School? Are you serious? You kept in in this suspense all day to take me to school? We were in there when you suggested this, for god's sake! Why didn't we do whatever your bat crap crazy plan is back then?"

"Chill out! We had to do this tonight because we need the entire place to ourselves. Right now, it's as certain as Spock wouldn't like having his ears flicked that we'll be on our own," Malcolm responded. Leonard hurried to catch up with them as they reached the street's end.

"I get that, but why did you pick school? You both know that school isn't exactly a positive place for me, though I guess my home isn't much better."

The teenagers approached the looming gates of their school. Strangely, despite it being 10:30pm on a Tuesday night, the gates to the car park were wide open. Ross peered inside, to see a pair of women wearing blue cleaners' uniforms climbing out of the only car present.

"Who would've guessed; Spock likes his ears flicked!"

"Ssh, they'll hear us! Let's go behind there and wait a few minutes until they go," Malcolm hissed, pointing behind the nearby bike sheds. He stepped forward.

"I'm coming. Keep to the shadows," Ross responded, just a little too loudly. The tallest of the women spun around and surveyed the trees that lined the school's entrance. She gripped the other woman's arm nervously, who whispered something to her and pointed across, to near where the boys were cowering. A minute of suspense crept past, until they looked away and opened the boot of their car. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Guys, I don't think I can do this."

Leonard glanced back at the dark street. He longed to flee back to it and escape this unease, this discomfort. His conscience screamed at him to leave. Why had he let himself be put in this situation? He should have stayed at home. He would rather be in his cold, clinical home, ignored by his family, lost in his daydreams, than here in this forbidden, shadowy car park, not knowing what pretences he was here under.

"Romeo, think about your Juliet. You're here for her," Malcolm whispered softly.

Suddenly, Leonard understood the phrase 'torn in two'. Fortunately, one way pulled him much further than the other. He followed the others and they snuck behind the bike sheds.

The trio listened in a tense silence as the women reached the reception doors. They were too far way to hear what exactly was being said, however they could hear faint laughter. One of them produced a set of jingling keys from the pocket in her long tabard and unlocked the door. Only once they had entered the building and switched on some lights did the boys move.

"Okay, we'll break the suspense. Basically, we can access Juliet's details by breaking into the school network. We'll go into one of the offices, hack a computer, find any newly added student files and bingo, there'll be her details!"

"Easy as doctorate-level physics!"

"What?"

"Hard for most people, but easy for you, Romeo," Ross grinned.

"So, what do you think? I know it's not our usual style, but desperate times call for desperate measures, right?"

"If it will bring me and her closer together, I guess it's worth it," Leonard sighed. The past two days had drained him emotionally, but there was a spark of hope and excitement in his eyes that refused to be extinguished.

"Great! Hang on, let's go around the back there to make sure no one sees us," Malcolm dictated.

"Affirmative, Captain. Let's go!"

Five minutes later, the teenagers had edged slowly all the way around to the back of the building. Leonard pushed the door open, cringing at the squeaking sound it triggered. They tip-toed down the deserted corridor, until they reached one of the offices near reception from the alternate side.

"It's so creepy down here! It's kind of like that eerie kitchen in Jurassic Park!"

"Yeah, except that no dinosaurs come to the school," Leonard laughed softly.

"Are you sure Mrs Parsons doesn't count? She has to be have be born in the Cretaceous Period, _at least,"_ Ross snickered.

"Sshh! Just because they doesn't seem to be anyone in this corridor, doesn't mean that we can be as loud as we want!"

"What about one of the computers down here? I know these are the 'admin' offices, not reception, but I'm pretty sure the computers in there'll be fine," Leonard suggested, pulling his t-shirt down further over the top of his chocolate-coloured jeans.

"Sure. Actually, the cleaners have not been around here yet, so it's probably better than being right in the middle of reception," Malcolm agreed.

Tentatively, they opened a dark wooden door and stepped steadily inside. Ross flicked on the light switch, illuminating a small, plain room that was so dull it had an almost utilitarian feel to it. Leonard crept to the window and rolled down the white roman blinds.

Biting his lip apprehensively, Leonard sat down on a spinning chair in front of the computer. The others pulled up chairs and stools from around the office and joined him. Together, they set to work.

* * *

Technological knowledge, intellect and computer skills applied, the trio managed to hack into the school network. They searched for student files and gathered in anticipation around the computer screen.

"Okay, so we need to specify our search a little more. When did your Juliet first start at this school?"

"Well, yesterday she told me it was her first day here, so that would be Monday 9th October, 1995," Leonard answered anxiously. He watched as Malcolm found an advanced search tool and began the complete the required fields.

"Okay, then. She started last Monday... she's female, obviously; we call her Juliet not Julian... name, date of birth, address, previous education, classes... all not applicable. Ready, Romeo?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!"

There were many things Leonard longed for; an appreciative, loving family, his bullies to be non-existent and academic success, among them. However, in that moment all that mattered was her.

"Right, there is only one search result. I'll read it from the top. Name: Karen Eloise Burbrick, date of birth: July 31st 1980, address: 43 Sycamore Avenue- that's near me actually, only about two miles from the school..."

"Just keep reading!"

"Sorry. Anyway, she went to some random Primary school and then another equally random Secondary school in Oxfordshire, England, that were called..."

People could be heard traipsing along the corridor. Everyone froze. After a few seconds of numbness, they all started to act at once. Malcolm lunged for the light switch; hurling the room into darkness, Leonard forced the computer to shut down and Ross attempted to hide the light of the computer screen with his black balaclava. Unfortunately, there was no cupboard or cabinet that they could crawl into. Instead, they concealed themselves under the desk, also obscured by the chairs that they pulled closer around them. Leonard could almost hear his heartbeat in the silence.

"I swear I heard something! There must be someone around here somewhere, Anne!"

"Stop being so paranoid! I keep telling you there's no-one here but us."

"Don't you think it a bit of coincidence that we heard something in the car park, in this corridor and I'm sure I saw a light coming from one of these rooms? What do you think?"

"I think all these years of cleaning late at night have finally got to you, Stacey. Come on, let's scrub the cafeteria first and get it over with."

"Fine. But I'm not paranoid, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Stace, whatever you say."

They left the corridor and then the building. Leonard and Ross breathed a profound sigh of relief, however Malcolm was already thinking about how to proceed.

"Let's go out via reception; if they're going to the cafeteria then our paths shouldn't cross. Come on!"

Peculiarly, the corridor seemed even more foreboding than before, despite the lights having been switched on by the cleaners. Leonard followed his friends along until they reached the street outside their school.

"Mission accomplished! High-five, guys, we did it!"

"I can't believe we survived!"

"Oh yeah, if we had been seen it would have been immediate death," Leonard replied sarcastically.

A little while late, Leonard was walking home in a total daze. _I have a kinda, sorta girlfriend called Karen... Karen Eloise Burbrick! We fit together perfectly, like peanut butter and jelly, Batman and Robin, Romeo and Juliet and now... Leonard and Karen. If we ever got married, she would be Karen Eloise Hofstadter! For our wedding presents we could have random things like gravy boats and picture frames engraved with 'LH +KB' or 'LLH + KEB', _he dreamed breathlessly. Breathless, with delight, hope and excitement. Leonard would never be the same again.


	6. A Minor Hitch

**Hope you're all enjoying the story so far! Sorry this took a longer than normal to write and upload, I had a crazy amount of homework to finish and I've been out enjoying the rare English sunshine! Anyway, chapter 6 is finally here. Please review, I love hearing what you all think :)**

The next afternoon, Leonard was leaving his last lesson of the day with Malcolm and Ross. He looked exhausted but cheerful; there were dark circles under his eyes, he was pale and was even yawning occasionally. He had obviously slept very little the night before. However, he had a contented grin and the spark of hope in his dark, expressive eyes was brighter than ever.

"Whoa, you told your parents that you were studying with me and Ross, they believed you, but you're grounded?"

"Yeah, my mother was definitely _not _pleased when I arrived home just before midnight. I had tried to sneak in the back door, but Mitzy decided that barking really loudly and jumping around boisterously was the best way to greet me. Thanks to her, I had a two hour lecture that will be continued as soon as she gets back from work tonight and my father hasn't even started to lecture me properly yet," Leonard explained, his smile fading a little.

"I thought your mom was in Princeton, visiting your sister?"

"She was, but as soon as she arrived she discovered that Lottie was ill. Nothing serious or anything, just a bad cold, but mother found it 'wholly illogical to expose herself to such a contagious disease', especially as she has a lot of important conferences next weekend. Also, she basically said that she wouldn't enjoy her time there if her daughter was ill. So, she took the next train home and left Lottie on her own, unwell, in her university room, without so much as a 'get better soon'."

"That sucks! You know, your mother is like the opposite of Doctor Who; instead of two hearts she has none," Malcolm laughed. "I mean, no offence, Romeo."

"None taken, Mal; she's evil as using someone's head to crack open a rock-hard nut."

"That reminds me, how is your forehead feeling now?"

"Not too bad, thanks. The nurse from the medical room still thinks I walked into a lamp post, not that it was anything to do with Jimmy Speckerman and co.," Leonard sighed. The incident had happened a few months ago now, but he still felt vaguely nauseated at the sight of nuts. Out of the corner of his eye, Leonard noticed something that he wished he hadn't.

Karen was over by the wall of the gym, smiling her smile that Leonard loved so much, although it was not directed at him. She was chatting and giggling with a boy that he vaguely recognised as being a senior. They embraced and it was obvious to any onlookers that they were dating.

From films and books, Leonard had observed that in situations such as this the unfortunate one, male or female, felt a lot of emotional pain. He, however, did not. All he felt was a numb, empty feeling. There was just so much of it, like the emptiness was filling him, although Leonard decided that didn't make sense. Karen and her boyfriend came even closer together and the numb sensation fizzled out, replaced by something considerably worse as he comprehended what was happening.

He learned in the moments that followed what unrequited love was. Sure, he had only met Karen once two days ago and yes, he had only found her name by sneaking into school and hacking a computer, and okay, he may have exaggerated her looks in his head when he first met her, but he was already completely infatuated with her.

It didn't exactly help matters that Leonard became easily attached to things, such as when his father bought Michael a kitten for his birthday last August. He had called his new pet 'Boots', despite his mother's attempts to persuade him to use a reference to someone successful in science. From the minute Boots was brought home, Leonard cared about the new addition to the family just as much as his brother did.

But now, Leonard was still frozen, lost in thought. He took a slow, shaky breath in and barely managed to suppress the tears that were forming.

"Are you okay, Leonard?"

"Yeah... no. No, I'm not," he answered quietly, trying to keep calm despite the over-whelming need to throw himself down onto the paving slabs, curl up into a ball and cry hysterically. "See that girl over there, by the gym?"

"The one wearing the red blouse?"

"Yes. She's Karen and I'm guessing the guy she's with is her..." Leonard trailed off, once again staring into space. The word 'boyfriend' was lodged in his throat like it was a physical object.

"Oh, dude, I'm sorry. Well, I guess that is a minor hitch," Malcolm consoled.

"A minor hitch? Oh yeah, she has a boyfriend, who just happens to be on the school football team and it's only a little setback. You know, just a slight problem," Ross laughed sarcastically.

"Ross, this is the girl of my dreams we're talking about here! Not just a little crush!"

"Um, surely the 'girl of your dreams' would be a little better looking? She's cute I guess, but she's not really _beautiful _or anything," Malcolm decided aloud.

"Yes she is, are you insane? Karen's amazing," Leonard retorted.

"Well, I guess they say love is blind," Ross remarked, frowning a little at Karen. Sure, she was good-looking, but Leonard talked about her like she was some kind of goddess. She was just... normal.

Leonard dragged his gaze off of the couple and stared at his two friends. Their voices, like so many others at the moment, washed over him. _How can they be so mean? _ They just didn't understand. _LH and KB, that's how it's meant to be. That's how it is in my head, that's how it always will be. Always. _

Meanwhile, in reality Ross and Malcolm were laughing at him, at his supposedly delusional thinking. He certainly didn't think he was being delusional at all. But then, of course he would think that. Leonard's head was swimming with thoughts that completely contradicted each other. The line between the Karen he had been dreaming about and the Karen that was now walking arm-in-arm with a senior football player was becoming increasingly blurred in his mind. Suddenly, it was all too much.

"I have to go," Leonard muttered to them, before wandering away towards the school gate. _Where should I go?_ One of his parents' excruciatingly long lectures was not an especially appealing prospect. He certainly didn't feel like being with his friends after what they had just said about Karen. In fact, Leonard didn't feel like being with anyone right now. He was exhausted after very little sleep the past few nights, so he decided to simply walk home and get some rest. It occurred to him that his parent's lectures were the longest they talked to him for; when else would they pay any attention to him? Particularly his father, who Leonard thought was more interested in Michael, Charlotte and work, than in him.

As the New Jerseyan walked past Quick Chek, a little slither of him began to doubt. It was his mother's effect again. _Maybe, just maybe I feel the way I do about her, became attached to her so quickly because of the way she helped me at first. Maybe, only maybe it was natural to find her so attractive after about two seconds because, unlike most females, she had simply noticed me..._

Maybe, maybe not. Either way, no piece of truth would end his imaginary relationship with his illusory girlfriend. Whether or not they would ever be together was uncertain, however, at that moment, during his way home from school on 11th October, in Leonard's eyes, hope was gone.


	7. The Tiniest Chance

Unusually for Leonard, he couldn't wait to go back to school on the following Monday. Due to the previous Tuesday when he had arrived home about four hours after his curfew, he had not been allowed to even step out of the house or to phone anyone, excluding serious emergencies, for the entire weekend. Apart from the seemingly endless chores his parents set him to do, he also had to endure his mother's comments about how his younger brother _Michael_ never arrived home late and _Michael _wouldn't roll his eyes at her when she wasn't looking. Michael had simply smiled smugly at him and occasionally walked in and out of their back door, just because 'I can and you can't'.

So after all that, even with Jimmy Speckerman beating him up that morning, Leonard was glad to be back at school, he decided as he entered his geography classroom. Just as he sat down, a familiar voice spoke.

"Hey, so you are the same Leonard! I saw your name next to mine on the seating plan and wondered if it was my locker buddy!"

He looked up to see Karen standing beside him, unpacking her bag on the desk.

"Hi Karen! To be honest, if you see the name Leonard anywhere, it's probably me. I'm the only Leonard I know of, anyway," he smiled, trying to appear calm in front of her. He hoped that he didn't look like he had imagined their life together a couple in a long-term relationship, although he was unsure how he would go about that even if he wanted to.

"Hang on, how do you know my name?"

Leonard internally chastised himself for giving that away. _What the hell do I say now, no big deal but I kind of snuck into school late at night and hacked the computer system like a deranged stalker with my two friends that talk about you all time and how you are just normal, not a goddess like you are and yes I really think that and I love you and will you marry me? _He paused for a second. _Okay maybe not. Slow down, Hofstadter._

"Oh right, yeah, I heard it... somewhere- someone was talking about you and they used your name and then I, um, knew," he answered nervously. _And the winner for dumbest response in a social situation is... Leonard Hofstadter with what he just said! Seriously, what is wrong with me? _He thought, frustrated, as he attempted to calm down and act natural.

Before either of them could speak, their teacher began to call the register and check if the new seating plan had been adhered to. Although this meant that they couldn't chat for a few minutes, it gave Leonard some time to pull himself together. Being next to someone that you almost constantly thought about was proving more challenging than he had expected.

After a little while, their teacher explained that this would be a revision lesson focusing on their most recent topic: Interdependence- Globalisation and global trade. Various textbooks, worksheets summarising the subject and books were handed out, until the room fell into 'work-related' chatter.

"So, how have you been settling in here? What do you of New Jersey?"

"Oh, I've been settling in okay thanks. I like this state a lot more than I thought I would, to be honest it was pretty hard moving over here, to somewhere I had never been before, and leaving everyone behind," Karen responded with a sigh. She fiddled with a few strands of her dark brown hair.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that."

"Hey, it's not your fault. Besides, I've got some new friends like Holly and Jen now," she reminded him as she picked up a one of the books and ran her finger along the index page.

"Good, good. If you don't mind me asking, why did you move over here?"

"Well, basically my Mum worked for this publishing company back in England and she was recently promoted to a much, much better job, with way more money and she would even be manager of a large team of people. But, the head offices of this publishing company are over here and it was such a good opportunity as my Mum's always wanted to be one of these high-up-in-the-company people ever since she started working there, so we moved."

Leonard listened to her carefully, not missing a word. Quietly, they worked for a while on their revision.

"Do you want me to test you on some of this global trade stuff, Leonard?" Karen offered as she gestured to a double page of one of the books.

"Sure, whenever you're ready."

"I can start right now. Let's see... um... ooh, here we go: what are _transnational corporations?"_

"Transnational corporations, otherwise known as multinational corporations, are companies that operate in more than one company; usually they own factories in countries that are LEDCs (less economically developed countries) because the labour is normally considerably cheaper..."

"Whoa, it's like you swallowed a textbook or something!"

"... And there are other advantages including improved educational facilities, a more stable income than the workers in the LEDCs would typically have, the creation of thousands of more jobs, a better economic base for the country and obviously an investment in infrastructure..."

"How do you remember all this?"

"... On the other hand, as with everything, there are disadvantages such as damage to the local environment by ignoring local laws, poorer working conditions, little reinvestment to the local area, over-exploitation of natural resources and it goes without saying that the profits go to the company's headquarters overseas," Leonard finished briskly.

_Why did I let her know that I know all that? I could have just said something like 'transnational corporations are corporations that are spread over different countries'. But no, I had to launch into a detailed explanation of its full definition, other names for it, pros, cons and the whole LEDC thing_, he thought inaudibly.

"That's amazing! I'm guessing you know all the answers in here, so this revision is kind of pointless," Karen smiled, oblivious to Leonard's inner thoughts.

At that moment, the guy sitting in front of Karen turned around and passed her a folded up piece of lined paper.

"Thanks!" Karen grinned at him as he turned back to his work. "Ooh, I love getting notes, don't you?"

"I don't get that many, my most recent was the one from you," Leonard responded, remembering how ecstatic he had been when he had found the pale blue note in his history book.

"Oh yeah, I think I did write one for you didn't I? I had been so nervous, but after chatting to you I felt like I'd made a new friend. Apart from Ashley, who really was only with me because the principal asked her to show me around the school."

"Thanks for the note anyway. It meant a lot, well not _a lot _as such, just a bit. Yeah, it meant a bit," he stuttered as she unfolded the lined paper.

"Not really, I write little notes all the time to random people. Seriously, you should try it sometime; it's great. This one's from... Jen, she's one of my new friends over here," Karen explained.

_Random people... that's all I am to her, just another random person_. He swallowed hard and attempted to not be too caught up in his own thoughts.

"What does it say, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, it's just about this party- we were planning to..." Karen trailed off, obviously deep in thought.

"What?"

"I just had the best idea ever! Okay, so you know there's that Halloween dance at the school on the 31st, they were telling us about it in assembly last week?"

"Yeah, it's held every year but I've never been because, well I haven't ever had anyone to go with," Leonard answered, fiddling with the zip of his hoodie.

"Jen and I are both going to go, but Holly's not coming because she's going to her older brother's wedding. I'm going with my boyfriend Joey, but Jen doesn't have a boyfriend and no-one's asked her to go with them yet. We suggested that Jen should come with us and she agreed, but I still think she would feel a little bit like a third wheel. That's where you fit in, Leonard," Karen grinned.

"How, exactly?"

"You two could go together! I mean, you just said that you've never had anyone to go with, so why don't I set you up with her?"

Leonard froze. He had no idea how to respond, he had been dreaming about going to the Halloween dance with Karen in matching couple costumes. Now, she was suggesting that he should go with someone else! She couldn't have made it much clearer that she wasn't interested in him romantically._ Maybe, if she got to know me better at the dance and saw me in a fun light, then she might consider me if her and her boyfriend split up... what am I thinking? She'll never be my real girlfriend. But nevertheless, if Karen is not interested in me in that way, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to meet someone else; I have never had a date to something like this before_, he pondered to himself. _Wouldn't it be awesome if you could just switch feelings off?_

"Sure, that sounds great! If I can fit it in around all my weekend partying and crazy social schedule," Leonard agreed, hoping that she would be just a little impressed. As much as he tried to let go, it was just so difficult.

"Awesome, let's all go together! It's a date," she beamed as the bell for the end of the lesson rung loudly. Glancing down at his exercise book, Leonard realised that he had barely done any revision for the test on Wednesday. As he pushed his pencil case into his bag, he suddenly remembered that he was grounded for the foreseeable future. _I can't turn back now, but what was I thinking? I have the tiniest chance of Karen seeing me in a different light and us getting together instead at this fancy dress party... but, it's a chance. A chance is exactly what I need._


	8. Insanity Iceberg

"So, let me get this straight: you chatted to Karen, you got along better than you were expecting, she was impressed by your intelligence and you are going to the Halloween dance... with one of her friends that you have never met?" Malcolm asked, frowning as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"In a nutshell, yes. Although, Karen is friends with her so I know she can't be too bad," Leonard added. They walked into the cafeteria together, with Ross hurrying after them.

"Slow down guys! I'm trying to tie my shoelaces here!"

"Okay, we'll wait for you. So, what's her name?"

"Jen, I think it's short for either Jenna or Jennifer. I can't believe it; I have a date to a dance! Well, provided that she agrees to be set up with me," Leonard smiled, attempting to be positive while all he could think was _what am I doing?_

"So, you are really going to the Halloween dance? I thought you were grounded forever," Ross questioned as he caught up with them.

"Not _forever_ exactly, just until my mother says otherwise or I move away to university," he explained, fiddling with the black frame of his glasses.

"Until university then, knowing her. That's quite a long time to be grounded for!"

"Yeah, but I'll try to get to the dance one way or another."

"As Yoda once said: 'Do or do not, there is no try'! But seriously, how can you go without anyone in your family even noticing?"

Before Leonard could consider how he was actually going to get there, Karen sauntered up to him. She was wearing her purple Converse trainers that already seemed so familiar to him. A small smile spread across his face at the memory of their first encounter.

"Hey Karen!"

"Hi, just wanted to let you know that Jen is up for the dance! We thought you guys should meet on the night, you know like a blind date. What do you think?"

"Uh, yeah that sounds good," Leonard agreed. He paused and remembered something that he had been wanting to find out. "Just wondering, is her first name Jenna or Jennifer?"

"Jennifer, but literally everyone calls her Jen. Oh, and don't forget to get a costume soon; today is the 16th so it's only a couple of weeks away," Karen reminded him.

"Don't worry, I won't forget!"

"I've got to go and meet Holly and Jen now, see you later," she smiled, brushing her hair back with her fingers.

"Bye, Karen!"

Leonard grinned and waved awkwardly at her as she left the cafeteria. As soon as Karen was out of sight, he stopped grinning and turned back worriedly to his friends.

"What am I going to do? I need to go and buy a new costume that'll impress her, but it's risky enough breaking the rules once in my house, never mind twice!"

"When you say 'impress _her_', you mean Jen right? You know, the girl you're _actually _going with?" Malcolm confirmed as they moved further along the lunch queue.

"Umm..."

"Romeo?"

"Umm..."

"Seriously?"

"I meant Jen, obviously. Anyway, do you think one of you guys could get me a costume, when you get yours?"

"Sure, if it'll stop you going on about little miss apparently perfect Karen Burbrick, then sure," Ross agreed as they carried their lunch trays across to a nearby table.

"That would be great, thanks," Leonard responded, ignoring his last remark. "I'll pick one out online and then I'll give you the money and write down the sizes and stuff in time for when you go to the mall on Saturday. Does that sound alright to you both?"

"Yep, that's fine. What kind of costume do you want?"

"No idea. Well, it has to be something that'll impress Ka- Jen, I mean Jen," he stumbled.

"Ka-Jen? Do you think you could be any more obvious about who it is you're interested in?"

"Really, Romeo? Please tell you're not still thinking about _Karen_?" Ross sighed. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"That's only the tip of the insanity iceberg," Leonard groaned. 'Thinking about Karen' sounded like she just skipped casually across his mind, rather than occupying the vast majority of it almost constantly. It was like quicksand, the more he tried to fight against it and consider what Jen could be like, the more he thought about Karen Burbrick. Or Karen Hofstadter, as she was now known as in his own proverbial insanity iceberg.

* * *

Slouching slightly in front of his desk, Leonard scrolled aimlessly down a webpage on his computer. Choosing a suitable costume for the Halloween dance was proving impossibly difficult. With his allowance reduced considerably due to the recent events, finding something both very impressive and inexpensive seemed almost impossible as he browsed through another page of costumes that just didn't match his requirements.

Suddenly, he had an idea. _Maybe, if I can't buy one, I could make one. _He smiled absentmindedly. If he created his own costume, the problem would be solved! _Except, I have no idea how to sow and no materials or anything to use available. Great; another completely useless idea. At this rate, the tiniest chance I have will slip away. _As he clicked onto another website, he remembered that Malcolm had told him earlier that his mom was making his costume. Through his propped-open bedroom door, Leonard heard his parents arguing, or as they liked to call it _debating, _downstairs.

"... Yes, I am well aware of the fact that you have written a paper regarding our sex life; however it is, of course, written from an anthropological perspective which means..."

"...I know what you think; your paper is from a neuroscientific point of view so it is automatically the only one worth reading, but..."

"...Not only that, but my factual approach on the matter showed the readers that it truly was an efficient arrangement, whereas yours merely..."

"... Beverly, I think you'll find that my paper proved the efficiency _and _was written with a more human touch so that people could relate to..."

"... Unfortunately, due to the carnal nature of many relationships, I doubt that many people will be able to relate to the fact that we have only had intercourse for reproduction purposes and to consummate our marriage..."

At this point, Leonard closed his bedroom door firmly and rolled his eyes. _Yeah, my mother's probably not the type of parent that would sow me a cool costume for a dance. Not that I could even ask her to; she has no idea that I'm going to the dance and that's how I want it to stay. _

Realizing that his current approach to the issue was proving fruitless, Leonard decided to try a different tactic. He grabbed a forest green notebook from the top drawer in his desk and scribbled a list down of costume criteria. The main recurring point was, obviously, to impress Karen. But what could a costume do to change her perception of him? He wrote a new list on the next page entitled 'What I Want Karen to Think about Me'. This was easily the most straightforward list yet. Once Leonard had written down about fifteen points, he started to read back over them and consider how he could use a Halloween costume to achieve them.

_Point number eleven: I'm social, popular and have a good group of friends._

Although the first part would prove very difficult, Leonard acknowledged that he was friends with Ross and Malcolm. _When couples want people to know that they are in a relationship, they wear couples costumes, so me and my friends could wear costumes that show we're a group! Especially as the guys are coming to the dance anyway... but_ _what group costumes are there for three people? _Deep in thought, the teenager read further down his list.

_Point number fourteen: I'm creative and original._

"So, a creative and original set of costumes that are impressive, yet inexpensive and easy to buy, for three people... that's not impossible, right Mitzy?" Leonard asked his dog as he opened the door that she had been scratching at. She clambered onto his lap as he sat down. Sighing deeply, he stroked her soft fur.

"Oh Mitzy, what am I going to do?"


	9. Peanut Butter and Jelly

**I really hope you're enjoying 'The Burbrick Infatuation' so far! I'm expecting to write about four more chapters, but it could be a little more. Also, the peanut butter and jelly thing really happened to me once, when I was twelve years old! *Sigh***

Brushing leaves and twigs off his jeans and navy blue hoodie, Leonard decided that being shoved forcefully into a hedge and being called 'Nancy' was not the best start to a day at school. _One day, I swear Speckerman will leave me alone._ He stumbled a little into the corridor where his locker was and spotted Karen kneeling down in front of her locker. She was rummaging irritably through her brown leather bag.

"Hi! Are you okay down there?" Leonard asked, wandering towards her.

"Oh, hey Leonard. I'm alright, but I just can't find my lunch box anywhere. I'm sure I put it in my bag this morning," she sighed, looking up at him.

"I'll help you look. It's clear plastic and rectangular, right?"

"Yeah, thanks," Karen smiled, looking a little less frustrated. "Wait... how did you know what my lunch box looks like?"

"I saw it when we first met and you were putting your stuff in your new locker," Leonard answered, searching carefully through locker 43 with her. Karen frowned slightly as she wondered why he had recalled such a minuscule detail about her. Rather than pursuing it further, she decided to just let it go.

"It's not here, is it? I guess I was rushing for my bus this morning and I must have left it behind. Ugh, I'm such an idiot."

_You're not an idiot to me, Karen. _She looked sadly across at him with her dark blue eyes. Leonard felt himself weaken a little, like he was melting.

"Do you have any lunch money at all with you, Karen?"

"No, I don't. Oh God, what am I going to do?"

_That's the exact question I've been asking myself for the last couple of weeks, _he thought to himself. Leonard reached into the right pocket of his blue jeans and pulled out a few dollars and, accidently, a few stray leaves from the hedge that he had come far too close to earlier.

"Here you go," he smiled, shyly as he handed her the money.

"Oh, thank you! I'll pay you back tomorrow, I promise," Karen beamed as she zipped up her bag.

"We haven't got very long at all until assembly starts, do you want to walk there now?"

"Yeah, sure. I still can't believe I left my lunch box at home, especially as I made myself my very first peanut butter and jelly sandwich this morning! Holly told me they're _amazing_," Karen told him as they walked outside. Her hair blew in the cold, autumnal breeze and she pulled her plaid coat further around her. Leonard pictured himself wrapping his arm around her gently to protect her from the cold, but he banished the thought from his head.

"It sure is! It's the best combination ever, except maybe for Batman and Robin," Leonard responded. _Well done Hofstadter, you managed to bring Batman into a completely unrelated conversation._

"To be honest, it looked so weird after I made it. I mean, cutting up the jelly took longer than I expected and it was really awkward to spread. Or _attempt _to spread; I totally failed!"

"You cut the jelly? What?"

"Um, yeah. How do _you_ make it, then?"

"I just spread... hang on, did your jelly contain gelatine by any chance?" he questioned, realising what she had done. The school bell rang loudly in the background.

"Yeah," Karen answered, nodding.

"I think you got mixed up with the Americanisms; what we call jelly is I think what you call jam. So, in England I think you would call it a peanut butter and _jam _sandwich. What you call jelly is what we over here call Jell-O, which means I think you tried to spread Jell-O," Leonard explained, biting his lip not to laugh.

"Oh my God! I thought it didn't seem right! I wonder what a peanut butter and raspberry Jell-O sandwich would taste like," she laughed and he laughed with her. Compared to the emotional confusion of the last week or so, the moment was happy and for a moment, everything was okay. That is, until Karen noticed her boyfriend Joey standing the auditorium, where she and Leonard where making their way to. Her face dropped and Leonard was reminded of how flustered she had been when he had first seen her that morning.

"Karen, are you sure that you're alright?"

"Yeah, it's just kind of complicated between me and Joey right now. I mean, we're still together but... oh, it doesn't matter," she replied. Her depressed tone of voice contradicted the fact that she was saying that the problem, whatever it was, didn't upset her too much.

"It matters to me," Leonard insisted caringly. As soon as the words had been spoken, he bit his lip as though this would undo it.

"Okay, promise you won't tell anyone?"

"I promise," he confirmed unhesitatingly. _It looks like my tiniest chance is not quite as tiny as I had anticipated. Wait, that's selfish... I want her to be happy and if that involves her being with Joey, so be it. _She ducked behind the side of the auditorium, gesturing for him to follow.

"It's just that... well, he's acting fine with me, but I think..."

"Go on," Leonard encouraged, attempting to hide his excitement at the prospect of Karen and Joey breaking up. He was trying to stick to simply wanting the best for her, but standing so close to her as she whispered softly to him made him think again. _Who am I kidding, if they break up, Karen and I have more of a chance of being together!_

"I think that Joey might be cheating on me," Karen whispered, her eyes wide. He was completely taken aback; he didn't know what he had been expecting her to say, but this was certainly not it. For a moment, he was speechless.

"What makes you think that, have you seen him with anyone or did someone else?" Leonard asked, hoping he didn't sound too sceptical.

"No, I don't have any hard evidence. But I just know that he's seeing someone else... it's hard to explain. You know when you just know, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Leonard agreed, despite not knowing.

"I only met Joey recently, but I feel like I have known him forever, if that makes any sense, "she explained in hushed tones.

"It makes a lot of sense," he responded and this time he really meant it. He felt had the exact same feeling towards Karen. Suddenly, Leonard properly comprehended what was happening and he could feel his anger rising. _How dare he treat her like that? _ "Maybe I should go talk to this guy, tell him to stop-"

"Leonard, please don't! I don't want to make a scene or anything. Look, how about I talk to him later about it?"

"Okay... if you're sure." He was calming down now, his breathing becoming steadier. If Karen had agreed that he should confront Joey for her, he would barely have been brave enough to even talk to him. Strangely, Leonard felt a little more confident, just a little, when he was with her, but with the majority of people he was still very shy. "We should probably go to assembly now, we're nearly late," Leonard advised, walking around to the front of the auditorium. Karen rushed after him and held his forearm gently to hold him back.

"Wait! Promise you won't tell anyone about this, or talk to him about it."

"I promise."

"Thanks. I really have to go now; Joey's still waiting for me over there." Karen let go of him and hurried across to her boyfriend, who was standing in the same place that he was earlier, but this time with a group of guys that were in his year.

Leonard stroked his arm absent mindedly where she had touched him and walked into the auditorium, Joey and Karen in front of him. They were chatting so happily and naturally, as though nothing was going wrong between them. Leonard remembered how nervous, scared even, she had sounded when she made him promise that he wouldn't talk to Joey about it. _That was odd_, he thought as he sat down near the back of the hall. _I don't_ _know much, if anything, about relationships, but I'm sure something is definitely not right here. But what? Maybe she just didn't want to jeopardise their relationship. _

Having watched Scooby Doo for many years, Leonard had an instinct to investigate and look for clues, but he decided that now was not the time for detective work. Selfish as he felt, he could use this to his advantage._ If they are not together, Karen and I could be!_

_After all_, he thought, smiling to himself, _we go together like peanut butter and jelly!_


	10. Rock, Paper, Scissors

Malcolm and Ross were on their way to their maths class, wondering where Leonard was. They had their suspicions that Karen had something to do with his disappearance, or his bullies. It was the latter.

"Hi, Romeo. Where have you been?" Malcolm asked as Leonard hurried up to them. He was out of breath and they could tell that something, whatever it was, was wrong.

"What happened? Oh my God, did you kill Joey just so that you could be with Karen?"

"Of course not," Leonard snapped. Usually, he would have responded to a question like that a funny sarcastic answer, but he just wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Just bullies, no murdering involved I'm afraid," he added, smiling a little more.

"Shame. Jimmy Speckerman and Co., I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, this time they had a Leonard-hating session and stole my asthma inhaler! I mean, I can get new pens and lunch money and stuff like that reasonably easily, but I really need my inhaler. What if I have an asthma attack or something?"

Malcolm and Ross exchanged looks as he bit his lip nervously. He was right; his inhaler was very important, especially as they were going to have a P.E. lesson later that day.

"Alright, how about this: for a one- time offer, we'll intervene and try and get your inhaler back from them. But, only this once, Mal and I have enough contact with bullies," Ross sighed as he recalled some of the incidents that happen far too often to their little friendship group.

"Thank you so much guys! I just can't face them again. I mean, if I couldn't stop them stealing it, how can I get them to give it back?"

"Hang on a second. 'We'll intervene'? '_We'll'_? I don't remember agreeing to get involved and..." Malcolm interjected indignantly. Ross glared at him as if to say 'Why aren't you supporting Leonard in this?' and he reluctantly gave in. "... and we will, but there's no reason for both of us to go."

"Fine, why don't we do rock, paper, scissors? The winner can stay with Romeo here and the loser has to face them and get the inhaler back," Ross suggested.

"Yep, sounds good. Rock... paper... scissors!"

"Yes! Rock beats scissors, I win! Mal, your challenge begins after maths," he beamed as Malcolm muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'damn it' under his breath.

"That's it! Rock, paper, scissors!"

"What about it?"

"We could go to the Halloween dance as rock, paper and scissors. But as the physical objects," Leonard suggested excitedly. He hadn't really seen anyone in costumes like that, but he was sure he could buy them somewhere.

"That would be awesome! What do you think, Ross?"

"Great idea, I hadn't even thought about it! Can I be the rock?"

"Fine, I'll be paper. Romeo, you can be scissors," Ross confirmed as they walked into their maths classroom.

"Okay, yeah," Leonard agreed cheerfully. Although he was imagining wearing something very impressive and going as a pair of scissors did sound weird, it fitted all the criteria from his lists and it was very original.

"I'll ask my Mom if she'll make us the costumes, I have no idea where we would buy ones like that from. I'm sure she'll say yes, she's awesome at making stuff," Malcolm offered.

"Perfect, if she didn't mind, that would that would make a lot of sense."

After exchanging their clothes sizes, they sat down at their desks and listened to their maths teacher drone on about quadratic simultaneous equations. Even Leonard, who enjoyed algebra, felt his mind wander. Earlier, he had endured a geography test, the one that he had 'revised' for with Karen. Leonard remembered how he had grinned when there was a question about transnational corporations, the same question on which he had impressed Karen with his intelligence. Hopefully he would impress her again at the dance.

* * *

A little later that day, Leonard passed Karen sauntering down a crowded corridor. He hurried after her, trying to hide his nerves. No matter how many times they met, each time he still had goose bumps all over his pale skin and his heart beat so fast that he thought it would burst out of his chest.

"Karen, wait up!"

"Oh, hey Leonard! What's up?"

"Uh, well I was thinking about the raspberry Jell-O and peanut butter situation and I thought that it must be kind of hard getting used to all the Americanisms when you've only been in US for a few weeks," Leonard sympathised nervously, rummaging through his bag. She had to lean in a little to hear him as he was muttering a little.

"Yeah, we have the same language obviously but it really is so different over here. I mean, I really can't get used to the whole chips/fries thing," she agreed, brushing back her sweeping fringe. Leonard pulled out a piece of A4 paper from his bag.

"Exactly. Anyway, I was wondering what I could do to help..."

"Oh, don't worry. It's not your problem!"

"... I know, but I wanted to help you. So, I looked up a few translations and wrote them down for you. Oh God, its stupid isn't it. Ugh, I'm sorry," he apologised as he handed her the list. Apparently, his definition of a 'few translations' was a page full, each with a little picture to help illustrate it and what the word or phrase when in England and America, written in his best, most careful hand writing.

"It is definitely _not _stupid! Thank you, I love it," Karen smiled, reading the top line of translations thoughtfully. He noticed that she had painted her nails a dark blue, with delicate yellow dots. _They're like a night sky with stars,_ he thought dreamily before speaking again.

"Oh good! I wasn't sure if it was patronising or anything..."

"Not at all. Uh-oh, Jen's coming over here! Quick, look away Leonard or it'll spoil the surprise," she cried, looking over his shoulder. Being curious, Leonard was desperate to see what Jen looked like, but Karen's enthusiasm about the surprise stopped him. "I should go, see you later!"

"Okay then, bye!"

Thrilled that Karen had appreciated the gift, he felt a grin spread across his face. The worries that had come with his inhaler being stolen and his last lesson being P.E. suddenly didn't seem so bad.

* * *

It was nearly time for the dreaded P.E. lesson and still Malcolm had not returned with Leonard's inhaler. They had seen Malcolm in lessons of course, but all lunchtime they had not seen him except for when he had taken his lunch box out of his locker at the very start. Leonard became increasingly worried as the first forty minutes or so of their lunch hour rushed by.

"Malcolm! Hi, did you get my inhaler back? Is everything okay?"

"Calm down! It all went fine, here's my proof," Malcolm grinned, handing him his inhaler with a flourish. Unfortunately, most of the Batman stickers had been peeled off it, but there were enough left for Leonard to confirm it was his.

"Thanks Mal! You're a life saver! In fact, there's a small chance that you could have actually have saved my life, if I'd had a really serious asthma attack and collapsed or something," Leonard beamed, stroking his inhaler like he stroked Mitzy.

"So, what actually happened?"

"Not much; I just approached Speckerman and demanded he give it back. He was so intimidated by my bold approach, (I was like a tiger hunting its prey), that he had no choice but to hand back-"

"In your dreams, Mal! No offence, but you're more of a friendly kitten than a ferocious tiger," Ross laughed. Suddenly he began to frown, deep in thought. "I don't think a kitten would use brute force... did you use any psychological warfare, à la Leonard's mom?"

"Oh God, what did you do?" Leonard asked, rolling his eyes. Anything that his friends said to his bullies could all too easily make them treat him even worse. He was barely coping at the moment.

"Okay, don't get mad, but I may have enlisted a little help from someone that you probably wouldn't have wanted me to ask for help from. I thought maybe someone older, on the school football team..."

"You didn't ask Joey? Please tell me you didn't ask Karen's boyfriend to get involved with my bullies?"

"I'm sorry, but in my defence I made sure he understood the whole situation about how important your inhaler is, how ruthless your bullies are and that you weren't strong enough to do it yourself and he understood! So, it's okay," Malcolm explained, oblivious to Leonard's shock.

"That's fine then, you've made an already awkward situation even more difficult! What if Joey told Karen about it? I'll never live this down! You are unbelievable," Leonard fumed.

"It's not that bad! I had never particularly talked to Joey before, but as soon as I mentioned you he recognised your name, apparently Karen has been talking about you. Joey really is a great guy. He didn't mind confronting Jimmy Speckerman at all and he didn't use any violence or anything. Don't worry he's really kind," he comforted. Malcolm had not expected Leonard to react like this at all; in fact, he had expected a lot of thanks.

_Karen has been talking about me... I wonder what she has said_, Leonard pondered, before snapping back to his senses.

"Just what I need to hear, Joey is a great guy. Not just nice, 'great'. Why would you ask him, of all people, to get my inhaler back? Besides, if Joey is so great, he wouldn't be chea... " Leonard shouted, lost in the moment. Suddenly, he remembered something that Karen had said:_**'Promise you won't tell anyone about this, or talk to him about it'**_, she had pleaded after telling him about her suspicions of her boyfriend cheating on her. "What is it with you? It's like both of you are trying to sabotage my future relationship with Karen or something!"

"I'm sure that Mal didn't mean to ruin anything, but you have to stop limiting yourself to just the possibility of dating Karen. There are loads of other girls out there, you're even going to the Halloween dance with one that you haven't even seen yet! Anything could happen and you need to be more open to it," Ross intervened with concern.

Leonard was speechless. Neither Malcolm nor Leonard had been expecting Ross to say anything like that, but Malcolm nodded his head in agreement.

"I know you really care about her, but she's with Joey and they seem pretty happy together. I think you might just have to accept that and move on with your life, Leonard," Malcolm added.

"You really think it's that simple?" Leonard asked, the anger in his voice replaced by sadness. His shoulders sagged a little under the weight of the complicated situation.

"Of course not! We know how you feel about her. Put it this way: if we didn't understand how much you want to be with Karen, why would we have sneaked into school and hacked a computer? Can you imagine how much trouble we would have been in if someone had seen us?"

The fantasies and daydreams that had meddled with Leonard's brain began to drift away, but he could still feel her touch on his skin from where she had pulled him behind the auditorium a few days ago. Realising how weird his friends must think he is because of all this, he decided to compromise.

"I know, Ross. Look, I think there's a chance of us getting together at this dance so why don't I try and, if possible, ask her out then? If I can't or she turns me down, I'll try, and I mean 'try', to move on. How does that sound?"

"Thanks, Leonard. That means a lot," Malcolm accepted sincerely. He could tell that Leonard meant what he had told them.

_I still have a chance... I still have a chance..._ Leonard mentally chanted to calm himself down. This dance meant everything. All ... or nothing.


	11. All or Nothing

**The dance is finally here! I really hope everyone likes this chapter; it has taken a bit longer than the others and it is my longest chapter in this story so far.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TLC or the song Creep (or the Big Bang Theory obviously)!**

It was not going to plan. It was only an hour before the Halloween dance was set to start and Leonard's plans of how he was actually going to get there had completely fallen apart.

Last week, everything seemed like it was going to work out: Beverly Hofstadter had been invited to be one of the main speakers at an international mental health conference, held in New York, and she had accepted. Unusually, she had requested for her children and her husband, Edward, to go with her. Apart from Leonard, who was still grounded. He had been planning to leave when they were gone and they were leaving at about four pm and returning home at about eleven pm, so there would be plenty of time for him to leave. If he was late back, he would have to suffer the consequences.

Leonard counted down the minutes until four o'clock. Then, it was quarter past four. Next, twenty five minutes past four. At thirty two minutes past four, he became really concerned. _Why the hell aren't they leaving?_ _Surely, they'll leave anytime... anytime now. _However, his family seemed to be making no attempt to leave.

Finally, Leonard passed Michael in their sterile white hallway. He was zipping up his dark brown coat and wearing a pair of black trainers, so Leonard fathomed that he was going out._ Finally! Wait... why aren't my parents leaving with him? _Michael looked up and realised that his brother was staring at him as though leaving the house was a completely alien concept.

"You know, Leonard, not everyone in the entirety of life as we know it is grounded," Michael smirked pretentiously. Standing next to him, they were the same height despite the four years between them.

"Congratulations, Sherlock. It is simply an honour to be _basking _in the glow of your brilliance," Leonard countered sarcastically. For some reason he felt more confident than usual. "Where are you off to?"

"Lola's house. Unlike _some_ people, I am capable of forming social bonds with others."

"Wait, are you two together now? I wonder what mother would say about that," Leonard remarked.

"No, no, we're not together exactly. She's kind of like my girlfriend but not my girlfriend, do you know what I mean?"

If Leonard had been asked that question a little while ago, he wouldn't have understood exactly. But now, he knew just what it was like to be sort of dating someone. _That reminds me, what is going on with the conference and the dance?  
_

"I think so. Shouldn't you be starting to make your way to the conference? It's nearly twenty to five, now," he asked, as his brother opened the front door.

"Mother prefers being a little early to any work-related event, but surely a month early is a little extreme?"

"But it's today, you're meant to already be-"

"It's in November not October, you hebetating dolt!"

With that, Michael shut the door in Leonard's face. _If only my parents knew what my apparently perfect brother is really like. _Suddenly, he realised that his way of sneaking to the dance was completely irrelevant now. He glanced up at the large clock on the wall and using his knowledge of Roman Numerals worked out that it was two and a half hours until the dance should start. Two and a half hours until half past seven.

* * *

It was now only half an hour until Leonard was meant to be at school, impressing Karen and proving to Ross and Malcolm that he wasn't completely deluded for thinking that he had a chance with her. He was washing the dishes from dinner (more chores were yet another punishment for breaking his curfew), when he saw how dark it was outside. _It's getting later and later... I should just go and get changed into my costume: everything will feel better then_, Leonard decided as he abandoned most of the unwashed dishes and hurried upstairs.

Leonard pulled out the plastic bag from under his bed and examined his costume for the fourth time that day. It was all grey and the scissors were made of a strong cardboard and painted meticulously so that they were an even colour. Their shape was perfect. _Malcolm was right when he said that his mother is good at making things._ He changed into his new scissors costume and strapped the large scissors diagonally across himself. Once they were secure, he looked nervously around his bedroom as though a there was new escape plan written all over the walls. Before Beverly had been invited to the conference, he had considered many complex ideas of how he could get there. However, in his panic and with only fifteen minutes to get there, he chose a slightly more rudimentary approach: climbing out the window.

Feeling for Karen's note in his pocket, he took a deep breath in and opened the window. The air was cool and the night sky was dark. Cautiously, Leonard put his right foot up and grasped the window frame tightly. He pulled himself further up onto the window and assessed the distance between himself and the roof of his house's front porch. _I can't do it, it's too far! _ _But, I have to do it soon; my mother will see that I'm not in the kitchen washing up any time soon. Still... the front porch is a bit obvious, maybe I should-_

"Leonard? I'm sure that you're aware that these dishes don't come with a self-cleaning function!"

It was now or never. He pushed himself out and stumbled, clutching the window frame as he dangled out of the window. He gasped in shock at how perilous this was, how quickly he had gone from being safe to being in danger. How quickly he had gone from not knowing Karen, to her being his imaginary girlfriend. She didn't just have to be his imaginary girlfriend anymore. She was real.

Taking a deep breath to fend off a panic attack, Leonard jumped down onto the porch roof and scrambled along it, surprised at how slippery it was up there. Hands shaking, he lowered himself off the porch roof. The cardboard scissors caught on the gutter as he dropped onto the porch, ripping the strap slightly. Leonard breathed a sigh of relief; _I'm alive! I did it!_

Suddenly, Mitzy scurried through the dog flap and bounded up to Leonard.

"Good doggie, ssh... it's only me, no need to bark..."

Mitzy decided to ignore him and bark excitedly. Panicked, Leonard sprinted away instead of creeping carefully into the shadows. He rushed down the avenue, until he calmed down and realised that he was probably far enough away from his house to just walk briskly. He noticed that, as a result of Karen, he was doing a lot of rule-breaking at the moment, which was very unusual for him. _What if, after everything, we don't end up together? I seriously hope all this is worth it._

* * *

Several panic attacks later, Leonard arrived at school. Malcolm and Ross were waiting for him, dressed in their costumes. He scurried through all the other students and hurried up to his friends.

"Hi guys! Sorry I'm so late; I had to climb, Spiderman style, down the outside of my house wearing a huge pair of scissors," he explained as they walked into the hall. You could just hear the excited chatter over the loud music and the DJ.

"Hi Leonard, don't worry the dance has only started a couple of minutes ago. Why the hell did you have to climb-"

Before Ross could finish, Wilma Flintstone flounced up to Leonard with Fred Flintstone. At a closer look, it was Karen and Joey. Karen's dark hair was concealed under a ginger wig, but Joey naturally had the black hair like Fred Flintstone.

"Hey Karen, or should I say Wilma? You both look great," Leonard greeted, avoiding eye-contact with Karen's boyfriend. He could barely look at Joey after what Karen had told him that he was up to.

"Hi Leonard! Oh, you guys are rock, paper, and scissors! That's awesome," she grinned. Karen smoothed down her short white dress and also seemed to be avoiding her boyfriend's eye contact. _Maybe she also can't bear to look at him after what's been happening. Here I go, over-thinking everything as usual. They seem happy together, let's leave it at that. _"Where did you get those costumes and the actual idea?"

"Leonard came up with idea because he's really creative and original like that," Ross explained. Leonard couldn't help smiling a little; at times like these he was so happy that he had such good friends, unlike both middle school and elementary school. This gratefulness was not going to last more than fifteen seconds.

"My mom made these costumes for us, she's really good at making stuff," Malcolm added brightly, adjusting his rock costume.

"Aw, you mom made them? How are you, five?" Joey teased. Leonard cringed inwardly, his heart sinking. _This isn't going to plan! Why on earth would you mention that, Mal?_

"Joey! Of course these costumes had to be handmade, where would you buy ones as unusual as these?" Karen scolded. Leonard's heart leapt. "Anyway, have you met Jen yet?"

"No, has she arrived?"

Karen called Jen over and introduced her to Leonard. She was wearing a 60s hippie costume: a skimpy tie dye dress, over-sized pink peace sign necklace and yellow high- heeled boots with a flower shape cut out of the side. A fuchsia tie dye headband held back the front of her long blonde hair, which flowed halfway down her back. She was looked athletic and she was about five inches taller than Leonard.

"It's nice to meet you, Leonard!"

"You too, I like your costume. 60s hippie, right?"

"Yeah, not my usual look but I love it tonight," Jen smiled, giving Joey a flirtatious look. _Oh my God, please tell me that Joey has not been cheating on Karen... with Jen! Maybe I'm just overthinking everything, but that was a bit over the top to be friendly._

"Oh look, Ellen and Douglas are calling us over. Come on everyone, except Leonard and Jen; you can stay," Karen announced, gesturing vaguely to the other side of the hall.

"I don't think they did call us over. Douglas isn't even here yet, besides-"

"Let's leave them to it," Karen hissed at Joey. She gestured for everyone to follow, leaving Leonard and Jen to get to know each other better. Leonard was a little startled to be left alone with this virtual _stranger_, especially as Karen was not there to impress. But, he decided to be brave and try to relax a little.

"So, Jen tell me about yourself," he asked anxiously. He felt timid and shy like a mouse.

"Where do I start? Okay, I'm Jennifer Green and I'm, like, sixteen. I love cheerleading (I'm a cheerleader here), dancing and parties." She leant in and lowered her voice. "Like, I don't really get why Karen felt like she had to set me up with someone. I mean, like, I can get someone myself. But hey, I don't mind. You seem nice. It's your turn now, go!"

At first, Leonard considered lying and trying to impress Jen. However, as he watched Karen and Joey, he just couldn't see the point.

"Uh, I'm Leonard Hofstadter and I'm fifteen years old. I like science- especially physics, comic books and video games. I think Karen set us up because neither of us had anyone to go with and we couldn't have found someone to go with in the small time frame we had," he explained.

"Speak for yourself, nerd. "

Leonard winced at the last word. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

About two hours later (although it felt like so much longer), Leonard and his date were drinking 'blood' punch although he suspected that it was actually a mixture of cranberry juice, apple juice, grape juice, strawberries and cola. It was surprisingly tasty. As he told her about Mitzy (she also loved dogs), the song changed.

"Oh my God- it's 'Creep' by TLC! This is, like, totally my song! Come on, let's dance," Jen giggled.

"I'm really not one for dancing..."

"It'll be fun! Besides, we're at a dance, right? So, it's wrong to _not _dance. I'll teach you," she insisted excitedly, pulling him into the middle of the busy dance floor. Leonard's nerves came flooding back as he watched everyone around them having fun. _Am I the only one that feels completely out of place?_

Jen was a natural dancer. She danced easily, free, with her long blonde hair swishing against her tanned skin. She sang along confidently to the chorus, not caring who heard.

Unfortunately, Leonard did not enjoy himself quite as much. He kept accidently standing on the toe of her yellow high-heeled boots and crashing into her with his cumbersome cardboard scissors. He could practically feel people's eyes staring at him. _I shouldn't have come. My mother has probably noticed that I'm not there by now, she'll absolutely murder me when I get home._ _This dance was meant to all or nothing and it's turned out to be nothing._

Malcolm was by the buffet, laughing with one of Ashley Carter's friends. _Even Malcolm's enjoying himself here. What's wrong with me? That's weird... I haven't seen Karen for ages. I bet she's enjoying her evening._

As Jen turned away to chat to a guy dressed as a Medieval knight, Ross waltzed up to Leonard nibbling at a chocolate 'spider' cupcake.

"Hey Leonard! How's everything going?"

"Uh, fine yeah. How has your night been so far?" He asked half-heartedly.

"Awesome! You know Nadia, one of Ashley's friends? She just gave me her number! Anyway, I'd better get back to her. Enjoy the rest of your night!"

"You too," Leonard called after him as he swanned away, sure enough, over to Nadia and began to carry on dancing with her.

Over the sound of the music, Leonard could hear shouting although he could not decipher what was being said. For a moment, he wondered if he was imagining it because Jen didn't seem to notice it.

"You know, Leonard, you're not as bad as I first thought. Sorry for, like, calling you a nerd. You are kind of geeky, but like you're also pretty cute and..."

Across the hall, Leonard could see Karen and Joey screaming at each other. Karen had tears streaming down her face, smudging her Wilma Flintstone make-up. He strained to hear what they were saying, but he could only pick out muffled words. Joey yelled something at her that must have been very insulting, because she buried her face in her hands and sprinted out of the hall as fast as she could in her white high heels.

Leonard ignored Jen calling after him. He ignored everyone on the dance floor as he uncharacteristically pushed anyone who came in front of him out of the way. He even ignored Malcolm and Ross as they shouted his name. The only thing that he didn't ignore was that Karen needed his help.


	12. Shattering

**Sorry for the wait! Just so you know this chapter carries on right where the previous one stopped.**

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

Leonard didn't even glance back at the guys that he had just spilled all their own 'blood' punch on. It was an accident, of course, but he didn't have time to stop and apologise. As fast as he could, he darted through the hall. On the way, he kept knocking over various things and people, especially with his cardboard scissors. He followed Karen through the darkness, the school only illuminated by the occasional tall streetlight. He and Karen were the only ones outside. He thought for a moment that he had lost her, but as he dashed through reception he could see her sitting on the front steps of the school, crying. He slowed down and wandered towards her, but she didn't seem to notice him.

Quietly, Leonard sat down on the step with her. He was desperate to comfort her, to console her, but he didn't know how to. Instead, they felt themselves calm down and they watched the cars drive past instead of talking. It was a little too cold and dark to be comfortable, but Leonard didn't mind. A comfortable silence fell over them, like a warm cosy blanket on a winter's night. Once Karen had almost completely relaxed, Leonard spoke.

"What happened with Joey? Did he hurt you in some way?"

"No," she answered, shaking her head. But the way her blue eyes sparkled with tears suggested otherwise.

"Karen, you don't have to be so brave. It's okay not to be okay."

"No, I mean it. It's not his fault. It's... complicated," Karen sighed. She pulled the Wilma Flintstone ginger bun wig off and turned it over and over in her hands, avoiding Leonard's eye contact. "Leonard, I haven't been entirely honest with you."

"What do you mean?"

"A little while back, I may have mentioned that I thought Joey was cheating on me," she started.

"Oh God, has he been cheating on you again? It's Jen he's been with, isn't it? I thought I was crazy but I knew it! That's it, I'm going to confront this jerk, once and for-"

"You didn't let me finish! It wasn't Joey that was having an affair, it was me. I tried to act fine with him, I really did. You asked me what was wrong and I panicked, so I said that he was cheating on me. Once I had lied to you I couldn't go back... well, until now," Karen admitted dejectedly, chewing her lip. "He just found out at the dance because Douglas, one of the guys I was with, accidently let it slip by-"

"I thought Douglas has been dating Ellen since middle school, did they break up?" Leonard questioned. _Of all the questions I could have asked her, I asked that little unimportant one._ He couldn't believe that she had framed Joey like that and cheated on him, with more than one guy. More than one guy... and Joey and Karen had only been together for a couple of weeks. _Everyone makes mistakes_, Leonard reminded himself desperately.

"Yeah, though with Ellen finding out I doubt they'll be together much longer," she answered, wiping the last tears out of her eyes. "I just can't believe it!"

"That you cheated on Joey... a lot?"

"No, I can't believe he found out, I tried so hard to keep him in the dark about it. Douglas promised that he wouldn't tell anyone about us just like the others, but he still let it slip!"

The real Karen Burbrick and the Karen that was a figment of his imagination were colliding right in front of him. The illusion that he had been subconsciously creating was shattering. His imaginary Karen would never cheat on her boyfriend, A.K.A Leonard. Although she had cheated on Joey instead of Leonard, he still felt like he was the one that had been let down. Despite everything, he was desperate to cling on to her, to his sanity. She was real and real people make mistakes. But was it a mistake?

"Karen, what you did... would you do it again?" He asked her, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm pretty sure that Joey and I are over, but yeah I would. It's a real buzz, especially when you think someone is going to see you, you can hear their footsteps coming towards you and your heart beating so hard that you think it'll explode," Karen sighed wistfully.

Finally, the illusion was completely shattering. For the very first time since they had met, Leonard looked at her properly. It might just have been because they were at a Halloween dance, but she was wearing quite a lot of make- up that hadn't been applied very well at all. She wasn't a stunning goddess; she was just a pretty girl. However, appearances obviously aren't everything and she was still kind and friendly. On the other hand, Karen had cheated repeatedly on her boyfriend with different guys and seemed to feel absolutely no regret.

Leonard wanted to get away from everything: Karen, the practically disastrous dance and even Jen- who was probably wondering where her date was. Due to his social awkwardness, he wasn't sure how he could get home and leave Karen at the dance without being rude. Before he could make up an excuse so that he could walk home, the doors into reception opened and they both glanced up to see who was there.

"Joey! I'm so, so sorry," she cried, throwing down her wig and hurrying up the steps towards him.

"Really?" Joey's eyes were wide and for the first time, Leonard could see how much he cared about her. Leonard stood up shyly, feeling like he was intruding on them.

"Sorry that you found out, you jerk! We are _so _over!"

Angrily, Karen stormed off, for the second time that night, down the street. Her now ex-boyfriend and Leonard watched her as she disappeared around the corner.

"How does she walk that fast in high heels without spraining her ankles?" Leonard asked. _Trust me to say completely the wrong thing for the situation._

"Girls are mysterious creatures, Leonard," Joey smiled sadly. They stood together, looking up at the night sky. "Were you one of the guys she was with?"

"No! No, I would n-never be involved with uh, anything l-like that," he stuttered. He knew that he had nothing to hide but with Joey glaring at him accusingly it was hard to think logically.

"Of course you wouldn't, I'm sorry. I'm still in shock; you just wouldn't think a girl like her would act like that."

"I know," Leonard agreed and he really meant it. Now that he was no longer desperate to be Karen's boyfriend, he could see that Joey was better than he had thought and she was worse.

Next, the reception doors opened again and the rest of the rock, paper, scissors trio climbed down the steps to join Joey and Leonard. They both seemed frantic.

"Okay guys, just settle this as a verbal attack; no fighting!" Malcolm ordered, looked nervously at Karen's sort of boyfriends.

"There won't be any fighting here. We're cool, aren't we Leonard?"

"Cool as liquid nitrogen," Leonard confirmed.

"Oh good! We thought you two might be attacking each other like wild animals in the wilderness," Malcolm grinned, relieved. "I was sure you would at least have-"

"Sorry to ruin the magic of this beautiful bonding moment, but there is another reason we're here," Ross interjected impatiently. He turned to Leonard. "Leonard, I just came off the phone to your Dad. Your parents were going mental and he didn't know who any of your friends were, so he went into your room, found my mobile number on your desk and called me without knowing who I am. He asked me if I knew where you were and I didn't know what to say, so I told him that you were here at the dance. He's on his way. I'm sorry about this."

"Don't worry, they were going to find out inevitably," Leonard sighed. He knew that he had really blown it this time. His relationship with his parents was strained at best, but this was sure to make living at home even more unbearable. His bullies, family and already strange relationship with Karen were all getting more complicated. He felt like his life was shattering into a thousand pieces.


	13. The Mistake

**I wasn't planning to include this chapter in this storyline, but when I looked back at the original quote from 'The Beta Test Initiation' (see beginning of the prologue), it involved Leonard breaking up with Karen. I didn't know how exactly to write this without Leonard being out of character (sorry Leonard!), so I'm sorry that he is a little out of character in the middle/end of this chapter. Yes, I did just refer to a fictional character as though he is real and reading this. I tried my best to write him as he is. **

**Also, I don't know if schools in the US have music practice rooms (mentioned later in this chapter), but here in England I know most schools do.**

**Enough rambling, here goes!**

"Well, the dance wasn't a _complete _failure," Malcolm remarked.

Leonard stared at him across the desk they were sharing. Even Ross turned around from his desk in front of them to give him a confused look. It was the first day at school after the disastrous Halloween dance and Karen's confession was still ringing in Leonard's head.

"How could you possibly think that?" Leonard asked wearily, frowning.

"Well, it put you off Karen for good and made you see her for who she really is. It made you realize that there are other possible girls that you could date and it opened your eyes to future possibilities," Malcolm explained.

"Also, those chocolate spider cupcakes tasted _amazing_," added Ross. They both gave him a withering look.

"I guess so. But still, you can't just completely turn feelings off," Leonard agreed. He flicked absent mindedly through the textbook in front of them.

"I know, Leonard," Malcolm consoled quietly. "But it's a start."

* * *

The night before had not been a great one for Leonard. The collision between the Karens had left his sleep-deprived mind dazed and confused. He wasn't sure what time he had eventually gone to bed, but he knew that his parents had yelled at him for hours upon hours. Every time one of them stopped, the other started. He had thought that everything would seem simpler once they stopped lecturing him, but as soon as he was alone in his bedroom, the situation became increasingly complicated. Being alone with your thoughts and insecurities late at night is rarely productive.

As the night had turned into the early hours of the morning, the line between reality and fantasy became so blurred that Leonard felt like Karen had been his real girlfriend. After many previous nights of sleep-deprivation to the point of him only sleeping for four hours a night sometimes, his thinking was positively delusional. So much so, that at four o'clock in the morning he felt that because he no longer wanted Karen to be his imaginary girlfriend, the real Karen should be informed.

Unfortunately, Malcolm and Ross were oblivious to his plans and therefore unable to say '_that's completely ridiculous, why the hell would you do that?'. _As soon as they found out what was happening, they would deeply, deeply regret this.

* * *

It was unclear how it had started, but the first thing that Malcolm and Ross knew about Leonard's delusion was when they were looking for him during their lunch break. They had imagined that his disappearance was in some way related to his bullies, but they saw some of the usual culprits as they looked around and Leonard was still nowhere to be seen. Their next idea was that he was in the music department; they all knew that often when he felt down he would become more interested in his cello, i.e. playing it. As they walked down the music corridor, they could hear a familiar female voice shouting in one of music practice rooms that you could book for half an hour or so if you wanted to. They listened carefully to who they recognised to be Karen. Through the small window in the door, they could see Leonard standing, almost _cowering_, in front of her with his cello propped up against a drum kit.

"What the hell is wrong with you? How could you possibly think that there was ever anything between us?" Karen yelled, waving her hands around dramatically.

"I don't know, you were always so nice to me and you helped me out of the locker when I was alone," he answered anxiously, his eyes glistening with tears.

"It was a rhetorical question, idiot!" She crept closer to him and lowered her voice a little so that Malcolm and Ross had to press their ears against the door to hear her. "Let me spell this out to you: there has never been or ever will be anything between us, Leonard. I mean, I wouldn't date you even if you were the last guy on earth. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes," he confirmed, before quickly using his asthma inhaler. "Karen, I'm really sorry about this, but- wait, please don't go yet! You didn't let me explain!"

"What is there to explain? You're completely insane and I'm not, which is one of the many reasons why we are not together."

"Karen, please don't-"

"Oh and F.Y.I., I only chatted to you occasionally and set you up with Jen because I felt sorry for you; a pathetic little nerd that..." Karen started angrily as she made her way to the door.

"I think it's about time you left, don't you?" Malcolm interjected, holding open the door for her pointedly. You could hear the contempt in his voice, which was very unusual for him.

"About time, I was going anyway," she snapped, marching out of the practice room in her purple Converse trainers. They waited until Karen was out of sight before rushing towards Leonard.

"Leonard, what happened?"

"He just dumped me, despite the tiny, tiny detail that _we were never going out_!" Karen shrieked in reply from down the corridor. Ross closed the door firmly and turned back to Leonard.

"What... you broke up with Karen? Why... just why would you need to do that?"

"I don't know, I wasn't thinking straight," he sighed sadly. The way that he looked down at the floor and tried in vain to hide the salty tears that were flowing down his cheeks made it impossible for them to be annoyed at him for doing something so weird.

"It's okay, we all make mistakes sometimes. Besides, she was completely nuts and you're just a little quirky," Malcolm comforted sincerely.

"We like you that way," Ross added. "Also, she's shorter than you and so when she called you 'little', that was pretty hypocritical of her."

"Thanks guys. That means a lot," Leonard smiled, ignoring Ross's last remark.

"Don't worry about it though-"

"She said my cello playing sounded like a suicidal bumblebee!" Leonard cried, bursting into tears again.

"Look at it this way," Ross consoled kindly. "At least you have some closure now; you and Karen aren't meant to be together and that's the end of it."


	14. Epilogue

**The final chapter! Just so you know, the Leonard quote that's used later in this chapter is from Season 3, 'The Wheaton Recurrence'. Secondly, I know this story isn't really long enough for a prologue and an epilogue, but because the first and last chapter are in the same time but different to the rest of the story I thought it would make more sense if they were he prologue and epilogue.**

** Thank you so much to zhalen565, TellusMater, cajunghost, DrBootsHofstadter, JLynnB, samasbananas and Mislav for reviewing! Also, huge thanks to everyone who has favourited or followed this story. Finally, special thanks to 5Mississippis for reviewing on every single chapter without fail! It means the world to me :)**

Seventeen years later, Leonard was thirty two years old instead of fifteen. So much had happened in his life since then; getting his PhD from Princeton University, moving to California, making new friends and starting work as an experimental physicist at Caltech to name a few. But, alone in his bedroom looking at Karen's photograph in his year book, he felt fifteen again, as though it was only minutes after Karen had shouted at him in the music practice room. The words that she had shrieked still hurt just as much, even though now he had no desire to be in a relationship with her. _How could someone who seemed so perfect turn out to be so horrible?_

Sighing, Leonard pushed his year book back onto the top shelf. Unfortunately, due to the fact that he could barely reach the shelf, he couldn't push it far enough onto the shelf for it to keep balanced; the book fell straight back down, spilling out a pale blue note that was slightly ripped around the edges as though it had been torn out of a larger piece of paper. It had little lavender butterflies in the corner and it was probably the most feminine paper that Leonard had seen since Penny's Hello Kitty notepad. He could remember how his teenage heart had raced when he had read Karen handwriting on it. _**Now I met you! **_He jumped up so that he could reach and shove his year book on the shelf, before walking to his slightly open bedroom window. Leonard felt like he did all those years ago, when he had climbed out of a window in order to get to the catastrophic dance. _Why did I do that?_ Instead of climbing down the outside of his apartment building, he threw the note as hard as he could (which wasn't very hard) into the night sky. It was caught on the front of a car bonnet and he watched until the car was out of sight.

_Where is Karen now? Did she stay in New Jersey, move away like I did or did she go back to England? _The last time that Leonard had seen her was a few months after he had finished school for good. He had been walking Mitzy in the park when he spotted her jogging with Marshall (one of her boyfriends at the time). Apart from the brief awkward moment when they made eye contact, she ignored him completely like she usually did. He wondered who she was with now, if anyone. _I wonder if she has a family? Hopefully she will make her children proper peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, not peanut butter and raspberry Jell-O ones! So much has changed in my life; I wonder what's changed for her_, he wondered as he turned his bedside light off and climbed back into bed.

_But really, not much has changed for me. I still live with a crazy academic who has trouble expressing emotions, just like my mother, I still haven't had my emotional needs met and my insecurities are worse than ever. _Suddenly, an even worse realisation crept into his mind. _Only a couple of years ago, Penny was like my imaginary girlfriend, just like Karen Burbrick. _He remembered something he had said to Penny about it, a while after their bowling alley break up: '**Let's face it; I've been in this relationship for two years longer than you**'. He had been in a relationship with her for two years without her knowing; exactly the same as with Karen although with her it had only been for about a month. Also, he had been infatuated with Karen, instead of loving her like he loved Penny. _Nothing has really changed, my life is just as tragic as it was all the years ago_, he thought tearfully.

Ridiculous as it seemed, that night Leonard cried just as much as he had after his break up with Karen Burbrick. After all, no matter how long someone special has been out of your life, if they meant something to you once they always will.


End file.
